Allgaier Seeks to ‘Jump’ Into A-Main Again in Chili Bowl Classic

Ron Lemasters | 1/14/2021

Chili Bowl Evel Knievel Justin Allgaier News

Last year, Justin Allgaier made the 24-car A-Main at the 34th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. This year, he’s seeking to “jump” back into the final race ...with a little help from the late, great Evel Knievel.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 14, 2021) – Last year, Justin Allgaier made the 24-car A-Main at the 34th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.

This year, in the 35th edition of the winter Midget classic, he’s seeking to “jump” back into the final race and improve his finishing position with a little help from Team Ripper and the late, great Evel Knievel.

His No. 1A Team Ripper midget will carry the white, blue and red colors made famous by the motorcycle daredevil during his career as a showman.

In the 2020 A-Main, Allgaier started 15th and finished 21st after steering issues cropped up in the 55-lap finale. It was his fourth A-Main appearance and first since 2009. This year, Allgaier’s preliminary night will be Friday, and a solid performance there will give him a leg up on reaching the final race for the second straight season.

The iconic Evel Knievel paint scheme gives him a boost, too.

“As an adrenaline junkie myself and as a racer, to have an Evel Knievel throwback is really special to me,” Allgaier said. “Obviously, he shaped the future for a lot of folks. The patriotic colors and the flashiness of what he embodied is pretty awesome. It’s been neat because, as a fan already, you can dig a lot deeper than what I have in the past. Seeing all the things that he was involved in in motorsports has been really cool. Obviously, Flea (Team Ripper’s Flea Ruzic) and everyone involved with the team...the attention to detail is truly second to none and that’s what has made this so much fun.”

Each of the five qualifying nights, which began on Monday, will see the top two finishers in the A feature lock themselves into Saturday’s 55-lap A-Main for all the marbles. Each driver’s performance on qualifying night earns points, and that determines where the drivers will start in Saturday’s preliminary features. The finishes in those will fill out the remainder of the “alphabet soup” features that will eventually result in the field for the final race being filled.

 

 

With a screaming paint scheme on board, Allgaier will seek to tap into his 2020 Chili Bowl experience and earn that spot in the final 24-car field.

“Last year was interesting because we made our way into the A-Main and then had a power-steering issue that relegated us in the actual race, but there were a lot of positives,” Allgaier said. “Last year was really the first year where I felt like everything just clicked. I felt more confident in where I was at and learned a lot over the course of the weekend, and I changed the way I drove.

“Obviously, I only get to do this for one week and the Chili Bowl never gets easier. Each year, you get more and more drivers who are able to go there and win in equipment that can win, so I felt like I learned a lot last year. Having some continuity going back with the same team and same crew...that’s a big deal. We’ve got a great program and we’re going to try to use that to our advantage. ‘Color Me Lucky’ was always on Evel’s helmets, and it’s so true to what we’re doing this year. The old saying is, I’d rather be lucky than good, and the Chili Bowl is a great example of that.”

Unlike the past several years, Allgaier won’t have the support of wife Ashley and daughter Harper on-site, and Jason Burdett, crew chief for Allgaier and the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet he races at JR Motorsports won’t be in attendance either. “It’s going to be quite the strange trip,” Allgaier said. “These are the days we live in now.”

With the NASCAR season set to kick off next month, now is the time for Allgaier to scratch the short-track itch. Once the NXS season begins, there’s little time to do so. For the Illinois native, a return to his roots is about having fun.

“I’ve kind of always looked at racing differently than some folks do,” he said. “For me, when I strap into the race car, whether it’s my JR Motorsports Camaro, a UMP dirt modified or in this Midget at the Chili Bowl, racing is and always has been about fun for me. Yes, there’s a job at hand and yes, it’s very time-consuming.

“There are a lot of things that play into it, especially on the NASCAR side, but racing when I was growing up...my mom and dad, it was a big thing for them. It needs to be your passion but it needs to not consume who you are or what you do. You shouldn’t let racing change who you are; you should change racing because of who you are. That’s always stuck with me. My dad’s big thing was, ‘as long as we’re having fun, we’ll continue to go to the race track. The moment we stop having fun, that’s the day we stop going to the race track.’ I’ve carried that on. I love this sport, love getting behind the wheel, love the social aspect of it...there’s so many things about this sport that I enjoy, but to me, when you can change it up, a different group of people in a different demographic...it’s a different experience just to change it up like we do at the Chili Bowl or to race my modified, like we will in a few weeks in Florida. It’s a completely different atmosphere, just the uniqueness of it.”

Since Allgaier began his career sliding around in the dirt all across the Midwest, he has had an affinity toward the Chili Bowl.

“When I’m not racing, I’m tuned in,” he said. “I’ve got subscriptions to darn near every form of online viewing for racing. I’m watching, tuned in, seeing what’s going on. Some of the best race car drivers in the world will never make it to the grand stage of our sport because they are doing what they love to do in the area that they love to do it in. Let’s face it: NASCAR and how you drive is not for everybody, and that’s OK. A lot of guys are extremely talented, but what I love most about short-track racing is the passion. You look at the passion a lot of these guys put into it. It’s not about the money, it’s not about the fame. It’s about the glory of going and winning and proving that you’ve done the best job that day. That’s what, to me, kind of embodies this sport as a whole.”

 

Articles

image

XFINITY Series Schedule

  • March 30 01:30 PM ET
    ToyotaCare 250Richmond Raceway
  • April 6 07:30 PM ET
    NXS Spring Race at MartinsvilleMartinsville Speedway
  • April 13 01:30 PM ET
    Andy’s Frozen Custard 300Texas Motor Speedway
  • April 20 04:00 PM ET
    Ag-Pro 300Talladega Superspeedway
  • April 27 01:30 PM ET
    A-GAME 200Dover International Speedway

XFINITY Series Standings

After Dead On Tools 250

Martinsville Speedway | 10/28/2023
Results are not available.